


Flights and Fights (and Happy Endings)

by muggle95



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, F/F, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Mating Flight (Dragonriders of Pern)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-21 09:25:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18140390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muggle95/pseuds/muggle95
Summary: After the Oldtimers retreat to Southern, the Weyrfolk from Southern are assigned differently than in canon, spread out among the other Weyrs.This time, when several queens fly at once, there is still a happy endingRated M for nongraphic sexual content and mentions of animal (cattle) death





	Flights and Fights (and Happy Endings)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [basketofnovas (slashmarks)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashmarks/gifts).



> All the names except the Miners are canon minor characters. You might not recognize the ones in the foreground because their wiki pages are all as sparse as [ Varena's](https://pern.fandom.com/wiki/Varena) (whose name I could find in the text exactly once while specifically looking for it)
> 
> Also many thanks to [copperscales](http://copperscales.tumblr.com/) for their help polishing this idea from its initial chaos into something worth reading

Varena had already figured out she needed to leave Igen, and was crossing the courtyard to get to Ralenth by the time someone stopped her and reminded her to leave. Kylara was struggling to keep Prideth from gorging, and Ralenth was too close to rising as well.

The harpers spun their horror stories about what happened when two queens tried to mate at the same time, and she wasn’t sure how literally to believe the songs, but she wasn’t willing to bet Ralenth’s life on it.

Fortunately, she knew exactly where she could spend the day.

She and Ralenth appeared in the skies over Crom to a morning barely dim enough to still be called dawn. The roads beneath them weren’t busy yet, and no one was staring up at them. Varena didn’t mind. She wasn’t here on business nor to be worshipped, just to keep a safe distance from Prideth, and to visit friends she hadn’t seen since she’d been Searched.

They alit gently in front of the Miner’s Crafthall, and Varena slipped inside. She found her way confidently to the Journeywomens’ quarters, greeting the few people up this early by name; most miners slept in a little later. It didn’t matter how bright the sun was, it was always dark underground.

She knocked lightly on the door.

“Larik, I’ve _told_ you, you’re not welcome in the women’s quarters,” a voice called, before someone opened the door a crack, and a familiar, round face scowled through the gap. Illara gasped and yanked the door open, her entire face lighting up with a smile. “Varena!”

Varena found herself pulled into a tight hug, and returned it as tightly as she could, showing off the muscle she’d gained working with her dragon. They wrestled briefly, to determine who would pick the other up with their superior muscles, and Illara finally won, lifting Varena's sandals briefly off the ground. She smelled of dirt and oil – she’d clearly continued on her intended path of working down in the mines, extracting firestone or gems from the walls and taking care of the watch-wher, who needed nearly as much oiling as a dragon.

“Come in, come in,” Illara insisted, finally releasing her from the hug and ushering her into the quarters the senior journeywomen shared. “Look who’s back!” she announced to the two other women and one empty bed in the room before asking, “What brings you here, dragonwoman?” she asked, sitting on top of a sloppily made bed, and patting the space next to her for Varena to sit down “Tell us all about life at the Weyr! …Unless you’re here on business?”

Varena flushed slightly as she sat down, all too aware that she was on the bed of a beautifully muscled woman, close enough to touch and _more_. But no matter the intimate contact she suddenly craved, she held back the impulse. Illara had a holder’s dream of marrying respectably, she wouldn’t be open to a dragonrider’s looser coupling. Their friendship was far too precious to threaten with suggesting more. Varena smiled broadly at her friend “Another gold is rising to mate, so Ralenth needed to be away from Igen. What did you want to know about Weyr life?”

“What do you _do_ all day? I’m sure it’s super interesting” Illara asked, while Synti, in the other corner sat up and asked, “Who’s more _fit_ , Master Nicat or Weyrleader F’lar?”

Varena took a moment to sort out the simultaneous questions. She answered Synti first, because it was faster. “Of those two, Nicat, but have you _seen_ bronzerider N’ton? And what I do is –” She cut off with a gasp as a wave of _desire_ rolled over her. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t hers.

“What’s wrong?” Illara asked, squeezing her hand, and Varena suddenly realized she had Illara’s hand in a stranglehold.

“Ralenth,” she gasped, crashing out the door. Something wasn’t right.

Illara kept pace with her, out to the courtyard where she’d left Ralenth. Ralenth was practically glowing, and had already pounced on a herdbeast.

“No!” Varena realized suddenly what was going on. Ralenth was rising _now_ too. With no bronzes around… “No! Blood only!” she commanded, with both voice and mind, firmly holding Ralenth back from gorging.

“She can eat the whole beast, it’s already dead,” Illara pointed out, before muttering under her breath, “Nessel won’t be thrilled about you raiding his herds without warning…“

“She mustn’t,” Varena corrected, not daring to release control enough to explain properly, as Ralenth drained a second herdbeast of blood. “She’s ready to Fly.”

She didn’t hear Illara’s gasp, when her friend finally understood what she meant, because Ralenth had leapt into the sky, bugling her challenge, at the…

At the bronzes above them, and at the other queen, drawing attention from _her_ bronzes.

“No!” Varena repeated, horrified. Wirenth was Flying too, and it was becoming hard to separate herself from her dragon.

Wirenth bellowed in return, flying directly at the queen invading _her_ sky, and swiping out with sharp claws, drawing ichor from a forelimb

Ralenth winced and swiped back, howling her triumph at returning the blow on Wirenth’s shoulder, seeing the green well up beneath her claws.

As Wirenth lashed out again, Ralenth found herself shoved aside as a large, dark body crashed into them, but mainly into Wirenth, bugling madly and dragging her away. Wirenth squirmed out of the newcomer’s grasp and flapped hard to put space between them. Ralenth made to follow, to eliminate the challenger, but Ramoth was in the sky, looming, commanding her to fly the other way.

She flew.

Over half the bronzes followed her, (which wasn’t really acceptable, but it was _enough_ ) and the chase was back on.

By the time Valenth caught her, Ralenth had all but forgotten that there had ever been a challenger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Ralenth’s ecstasy faded, Varena came back to awareness of her own body, to find herself laying on a comfortable bed, with an even more comfortable weight on her chest. Illara seemed to be using her as a pillow, and their legs were still loosely entangled. They’d gotten back to the journeywomen’s quarters somehow, and Varena didn’t quite have the energy to check if anyone else was still here.

Illara glanced up at her, a drowsy, sated smile taking over her face, and Varena felt her whole face going red, and she tried to squirm away to a respectable distance. “I…I’m sorry,” she stuttered, “Dragonlust shouldn’t have made me –”

Strong arms tightening around Varena's waist, preventing her from fleeing, even as Illara’s smile wavered. “Did you… not mean it?” she asked quietly, and as Varena sorted out her memories from Ralenth’s, she remembered babbling ‘I love you’ over and over into Illara’s hair, minutes before.

“No! I mean!” Varena scrambled for the right words. “You deserve a respectable husband, not someone like –“

“Maybe I prefer a flighty dragonrider, over some fussy husband,” Illara interrupted, tone deceptively light compared to the icy warning in her eyes.

“I’ll… If you’ll have me, I’m yours,” Varena whispered. “I shouldn’t have assumed. I really do adore you.”

“I won’t come with you to the weyr,” Illara murmured, eyes softening. “I’ve work to do here. But I’d love to do this again without the dragons’ influence.”

Varena nodded, eyes drifting shut as the last of the excitement drained from her system. She thought this… whatever it was between them… could last. They were both stubborn enough to make it work.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus:  
> “Wait, _Canth_ flew Wirenth? Is that… allowed? Is it my fault?”
> 
>  
> 
> Some other fun tidbits:
> 
> I cannot type Minecrafthall with a straight face
> 
> Important minor-in-canon characters and their wiki pages:  
> [Varena](https://pern.fandom.com/wiki/Varena), rider of gold Ralenth  
> Valenth, the bronze dragon of [D'nol](https://pern.fandom.com/wiki/D%27nol) (for what it's worth, Varena is still a junior weyrwoman, so D'nol is not suddenly weyrleader anywhere)  
> I didn't mean to pick dragons with such similar names, but in my defense, I picked the bronzerider's name first. Also there are apparently two dragons named Roth in Dragonquest (a bronze and a green, one is an Oldtimer), in addition to Ruth in the following book
> 
> Happy Purim!


End file.
